Smaller boats wiser for America’s Cup

I have been an eager and enthusiastic supporter of the America’s Cup on the San Francisco Bay from the very beginning.

Now I am jumping ship.

Not on the event. We are way too far down the road to stop the America’s Cup. The entertainment stage is already up, the first races are scheduled in seven weeks, and, most importantly, the money has been spent. There will be races, there will be a winner, and the beautiful bay will be on television all over the world.

But not in these boats.

The 72-foot catamarans are too much, too big, too powerful. Most of all, they are too dangerous. We haven’t fired a starting gun yet and two of the seven boats have crashed in spectacular, boat-breaking fashion. A crew member has died.

Someone needs to make a hard choice and say the race will go back to the 45-foot catamarans that raced last summer. There would still be hull-raising action, a stunning bay background, and excellent spectator and television viewing.

And it would be far safer.

While this week’s upbeat news conference was proceeding at the podium with the message that the race goes on regardless, it was impossible not to see that the America’s Cup support staff and members of the teams looked absolutely shattered after the death of Andrew “Bart” Simpson. Event organizers should pick up on that and use it to make changes instead of ignoring it.

Not doing so could make the entire enterprise collapse on its own. Simpson’s team, Artemis, is not only deeply shaken by the tragedy; the Swedish team’s boat has been a disappointment from the start. It has never hydroplaned properly and wasn’t likely to be a contender.

Even officials at the put-on-a-happy-face news conference this week admitted that they didn’t know if Artemis would continue.

The deadly accident has only highlighted what crews have been saying behind the scenes for some time. People are getting hurt on the 72s every single day. It may be only the usual hand injuries that come with sailing, but with the force and power of these monsters, everything is serious.

In short, technology is a wonderful thing – up to a point. In attempting to build what they trumpet as “the world’s fastest boats,” they have created something so supercharged and scary that these accidents aren’t just possible, they’re likely.

This isn’t unusual in racing. When Formula 1 race cars developed wings that produced tremendous downforce to hold the cars on the road, officials tweaked the rules to adjust the wing and reduce speeds. NASCAR has required its cars to race with a restrictor plate since 1988 to hold down power and pace.

Tinkering with the equipment is a possibility in this year’s America’s Cup. It would be possible to reduce the size of the wing on the boats to make the 72s safer.

In fact, there are reports that the specifications of the 72s were set before it was clear that the race would take place in the gusting winds and unpredictable currents of San Francisco Bay. If they’d known this was going to be the site, they might have gone with a smaller wing.

Or they might have done the logical and sensible thing – use the proven, race-tested 45s. There’s speculation that if the 45s had been the choice from the start, instead of the 72-foot behemoths, several other countries, like China, might have entered as challengers.

The 45s raced last summer, attracted huge crowds, provided thrilling races, and gave television a terrific show.